The “Palletrone” to serve as a flying shopping cart
Carrying a load of boxes and packages can especially be a hassle one: when they’re heavy and two: when you have to walk upstairs. Then how about a flying shopping cart that takes away all the stress?
Carrying boxes upstairs is part of a package courier’s job. They use a cart for longer distances, but the actual moving of the packages requires manual labor.
A team of local researchers has developed what’s been named “palletrone”, with a pallet for the placement of the objects that need delivery, which is moved by a multi-rotor drone, making it possible for the loading and delivery of packages without the need for wheels.
This multi-rotor drone will try to keep its roll and pitch at zero to make sure the pallet remains as flat and stable as possible, and it relies on user touch to guide its direction of travel.
“The palletrone runs on an algorithm that allows it to differentiate between the force exerted by the cargo and the force exerted by a human. It also uses a compliant control algorithm that allows the loaded pallet to move stably in the direction the user intends.” Said Park Kun-woo, the PhD student at the SNU mechanical system design engineering
A cargo load of up to 3 kilograms has been tested, which shows it can travel steadily when going up or down large stairs, and even on soft surfaces where shaking would be usual.
The research team added that the drone propellers have been hidden within the pallet frame to ensure their operation is safe from external impact.
“More than a flying shopping cart of the future, we expect this technology to potentially be used to enhance safety in uncrewed flying taxis that carry humans.” Said Lee Seung-jae, professor of SNU mechanical system design engineering.
The research team said that as much as this palletrone can self-correct to stay level in flight, the team will further its testing and research for the drone to carry out precision tasks at piers or near wind turbines by adding arms.
Source: Arirang News, reporter Lee Eunjin.
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